Okay, so i have been doing induction since the middle of January. Every weekend I usually give myself a day or a day and a half to cheat. I don't go hog wild binging, but I do enjoy a little bread, some sweets, some fries and occassionally a tall beer. Every monday I get back on the low carb horse, but I FEEL TERRIBLE. I have a dull headache, no appetite, foggy brain, beating heart and worse thing is the muscle stiffness in my upper back and neck. It happens every.single.time. Sounds like results of a crazy wild party weekend right? I promise, its not. Does anyone else feel like this? Do I have an allergy to carbs now? Diabetes? I have no idea. Why such a reaction?

It could be that you were flirting with pre-diabetes, and you're setting off your blood sugar, or you could have a sensitivity to gluten/grains.

I no longer eat grains, in any capacity. It's just not worth it to me to feel like I've been hit by a train. It takes me 3-4 days to feel "good" again, and the cost vs. benefit just isn't worth it to me in the vast majority of cases.

__________________

~~~The Journey Teaches~~~

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Well, pretty much all grains. I had ELISA testing a few years ago to test for food sensitivities, and grains came up very high, including non-gluten containing grains, like brown rice. I do have a gluten intolerance as well, but non-gluten containing grains don't do me any favours, either.

There are traditional methods that help make grains more digestible, if one is going to eat them, like soaking. But I have found that for me, it's easier to just avoid them, and I feel better.

__________________

~~~The Journey Teaches~~~

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I'd feel terrible too if I did that. I don't know exactly why it happens other than it's my body telling me to quit.

I do know this though. I AM sensitive to gluten so I gave that up as well. If I do cheat it will not be to drink beer or eat bread. I'd pick something that would make me "less" sick like a super thin crust pizza. No idea but there is this on restaurant that is my favorite. I can eat their pizza and it doesn't bother me (it just shows up on the scale). Lots of cheese slows the carbs down? The crackery type crust? Gluten free? The large salad I eat first? No idea. My point is some junky foods I can handle in moderation and others not at all. It's trial and error. I haven't had a beer in 1.5 years. The last one I drank made me very sick. Won't do that again.

You have heard the very things we crave/like are the very things we are allergic too right? I mean if I had it my way I'd live on grains/sweets. It's my drug of choice.

I had pizza on Saturday and some turtle chex mix. It didn't make me feel any different but I was up 4 Lbs by Monday. Am almost back to pre-cheat weight. Was yummy and needed. I only cheat every 6 months or so.
The cravings for the next few days can be rough after a cheat....
I wouldn't recommend cheating every weekend, you are really doing yourself a great disservice. It could take you till Wednesday to get back in ketosis after cheating on the weekend and then you are only efficiently low carbing 3 days a week. I'd save up for one good day a month if you really need it but doing it more often than that is going to set you up to fail. The cravings alone from cheating so often can ruin your willpower.

Okay, so i have been doing induction since the middle of January. Every weekend I usually give myself a day or a day and a half to cheat. I don't go hog wild binging, but I do enjoy a little bread, some sweets, some fries and occassionally a tall beer. Every monday I get back on the low carb horse, but I FEEL TERRIBLE. I have a dull headache, no appetite, foggy brain, beating heart and worse thing is the muscle stiffness in my upper back and neck. It happens every.single.time. Sounds like results of a crazy wild party weekend right? I promise, its not. Does anyone else feel like this? Do I have an allergy to carbs now? Diabetes? I have no idea. Why such a reaction?

Hi TG…
I plan one meal at a restaurant every 4-6 weeks (usually closer to 6 than 4) and order anything off the menu I want, and it's never made me sick.

It's probably a good thing carbs don't make people sick since most of us here are not carb-less (zero carb) but just reduced carb eating plans.

If you need medical attention I recommend a visit to a doctor, because many folks go off of low carb and back to full carb eating without becoming ill or developing aches and pains. Be careful with your health!

I read all the time about how terrible people feel after they eat carbs and it always makes me wonder if they truely feel that terrible or if they're exaggerating. I feel no different at all. Maybe I'm just not as sensitive to carbs? I went to a birthday party a couple weekends ago. Totally splurged, including a large piece of the greatest cake ever and I felt completely fine the next day. (Though as you can see from my stats it did show up on the scale and took me until the next week to get back to where I was.) Of course I never got the induction headaches or run down crappy feeling a lot of people seem to get either. Of course like the pp mentioned I'm saving any "cheat" days for special occasions because I don't want to kick myself out of ketosis.

I was also going to point to perhaps grains, or possibly *gluten being a suspect. If I ate bread, cake etc I too get that "hit by a train" feeling. (also, for me along with a nasty breakout).

This christmas I did have a dessert, had sugar but was grain free (egg and dairy). Felt ok the next day.

*gluten- found in wheat, barley and rye. It's easy enough to avoid on the LC diet if that's causing you those nasty symptoms.

Ladyflower:
Perhaps some people are, some are NOT. My first attempt at LC I had the brutal 3 day hangover. Horrible headache, felt like I had a flu. and stuck with it, felt great- and finally indulged at the company christmas dinner. THAT evening, it started, bloat, sick I felt like I drank to much the next day (and I drank nothing). Some people are that sensitive to sugar, have BS doing wild things, some are sensitive to their high-carb indulgence of choice. (gluten products for me). Hit by a train is an apt description. And some people a taste sets off a cascade effect, derails them and has them coming back for more and more.

and, of course some people can indulge in something sweet/carby and go right back on plan and feel fine the next day. YMMV is the net term I think.

wow I really expected everyone to have similar results. Seems like most people feel okay, but get cravings. I guess the advantage I have is that I don't get any cravings because I feel too sick to eat. I got back onto the carb diet yesterday, and I ate two small slices of cheese and couldn't eat another thing the entire day.

IslandAnne- maybe I need to look into that more. I also know that I need to slack off on weekly cheats, but it seems to keep my sane and forget that I am ever on a diet. Atkins is 100% easy six days a week, but seven just seems to be hard for me.

I am diabetic and have noticed that after doing atkins for so long that my body is now more carb sensitive than before. I do get sick from eating carbs. My stomach hurts, bloating, the more carbs I've ate the worse I feel. Whereas before (still diabetic) I did not react that way to carbs. Now when I want to eat carbs I ask myself is it worth getting sick? my dr tested me for gluten but labs came back negative. my dad is diabetic and doesnt do atkins and says he feels fine when he eats carbs.

Because celiac is much more common now, then it was once thought to be, it's actually fairly easy to get gluten free treats. I have gluten free pasta, and buy the bread etc for when guests come to visit, you can get cookies and cakes too. Since I am not the one eating these treats, I haven't tried my hand at baking yet. But there are blogs devoted to the topic where recipes are shared. You can try and see if that helps how sick you feel the next day. It's no fun feeling that rotten. - if it's the gluten, then maybe you can handle some sugar now and then without feeling that way.

Have you tried any of the recipe's here? I must honestly say I haven't.... I pretty much lost my sweet tooth. But people here have the creativity!

Tia- I'm not trying to be critical, but keep in mind that if you view low carb as a diet and not a WOE (i.e., 7 days a week rather than 6), your chances of re-gaining any weight lost are astronomical. Low carb is a healthy way of eating, and, as Gary Taubes points out, most people with a tendency to be obese are carb sensitive.

That means 'going off' and eating carbs is a great way to gain weight quickly. He himself gives the example of eating only a small amount of berries occasionally. If he eats more fruit than that, he begins to gain weight.

If you haven't read his latest book, you should. It might help you appreciate the value of not 'cheating.'

Yep I feel the same thing. Except for me the next day I feel completely hungover. No energy, lifeless, just want to sleep, brain fog, extreme hunger and anxiety.
The day I eat sugar I can't sleep very well at night.

However the personal trainer that told me that low carb was the best plan to follow said that one cheat meal per week can help. Gets rid of any psychological cravings plus can help with metabolism cause your not always eating the same foods every week.

I eat what I want when I go out to eat (usually the weekend). I also have drinks. I would never ever cheat before but I always went back to eating whatever, anything & everything. This time I'm doing it my way. I feel fine when I eat carbs or have a few drinks. I don't get cravings either. For me I have to try it this way or I'm afraid I'll go back to eating too much.

I guess if I felt sick or something I might not eat carbs on the weekends but of course feeling sick doesn't stop me from drinking too much occasionally either.

I am one who gets the after cheat crappy feelings. I am not sure what it is, carbs or grains in general, but if I go off plan, not only am I super-*****y to the point of even taking it out on myself (I dig my nails into my legs when frustrated) but I am achey and the tendons in my heels start hurting to the point it is hard to walk.

But does it stop me from cheating??? NOOOOOOO!!! you'd think I'd learn, but I guess you can crave what you are allergic to.

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Post Christmas, giving my life to God and letting Him heal me inside and out.

It does make me sick. I just had two truffles, and frostings and I feel so bad. Like physically bad. I was never diagnosed to be diabetic, multiple readings suggested otherwise, but there's something wrong about me tonight after eating those things.

I have a dull headache, no appetite, foggy brain, beating heart and worse thing is the muscle stiffness in my upper back and neck. It happens every.single.time. Sounds like results of a crazy wild party weekend right? I promise, its not. Does anyone else feel like this? Do I have an allergy to carbs now? Diabetes? I have no idea. Why such a reaction?

I get this too, as well feel irritable/cranky.

I think though that this is the result of comming back into ketosis, which Dr. Eades explains as your body is using the resources (components used to make dopamine/seratonin/other things) normally used for other purposes (durring which you would otherwise feel normal) in order to produce extra enzymes that help in the metabolization of fat (Which can take a few days).

I also have noticed that, my carb hangovers have lessened in severity, or at least I might not be leaving keto as easily durring one of my monthly carb binges as time goes on... (which I think might be due to a certain base-line level of the enzymes).

I would suggest, cutting back on your carb binges from weekly to bi-weekly or monthly, just to see if the "severeity" of your carb hangover lessens. Though don't binge more than you normally wood.

Regardless, I think it is the "change" of eating styles that causes the pains to the body. If it were the actual foods (sensitivities) then you feel the same way the whole time if you weren't eating LC. "Change" seems to be the trigger....

A year ago, I would have told you that I have no side effects at all from cheating (other than the jump on the scale) but this time around, my experience has been completely different. I re-started on January 18 and I've cheated twice since then. The first time was Superbowl Sunday - and the next day I felt run down, but nothing I couldn't tolerate. I got right back on plan and didn't get even a little bit of the induction flu again. The next time I cheated was 20 days ago. I was only going to eat ONE thin mint... but I ended up eating the whole sleeve - within an hour I was dizzy, lightheaded and lethargic. I literally didn't want to move. I then compounded that by eating pizza and drinking regular soda. The next day I felt like I was hit by a train, and it took my almost a week before I got to the point that I was feeling good again.

My birthday is next week, and my mom is determined that we are going to have a carby meal and dessert. But I'm just as determined that I'm not going to. Unfortunately she's cooking, so I won't have the choice to order what I want. But I will have the choice to eat before I go over there. Then I can sample the meat and veggies part and just pick at the starch and claim to be too full for the dessert. I'm not going through carb hangover again!

Same here! I did this "Way of eating" about 5 years ago and never suffered any concequences from carb meals except on the scale. I completely and totally relate to that dizzy, lathargic feeling you are talking about. Taxbane has a good point, maybe its our bodies going back into atkins mode that hurts, but I really hope its not diabetes/sugar overload.

I have terrible reactions to carbs now. I get nauseous (eg I genuinely am to the point of wanting to throw up). I get stomach cramps (mild) and being a guy I know it isn't TOM related . I get terrible gas much to the chagrin of my wife

It has gotten to the point that I now can spot hidden carbs due to my reaction. That was how I "discovered" that IHOP added pancake batter to their menu omelets (to make them fluffier).

I wasn't always like this in my WOE. But at some point (not sure when since I don't cheat a lot), it became clear my body no longer likes carbs.

And I will add I run very low carb WOE (less than 10 grams per day). So mt body sees very few carbs any more.

I remember when we did this diet before, we would go off plan for one meal a week. I soon leaned not to do it because it would go right through me and I had to find a bathroom fast. This time around we chose not to do that. Some people can handle it and some can't.

I get very sick. Now my indulgences are low carb and gluten free! I only indulge in low carb goodies. I can't have sugar or grains so I usually indulge in some low carb cheesecake, peanut butter cookies, fudge etc. things I don't eat on a regular basis. I always make my own birthday treat. This year it is the Banana split cake!

I suggest changing the types of indulgences. I am viewing this as a way of eating for life, so I dont "go off plan" per se.

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I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil 4:13

Mini Goal: 250 met in May
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I remember when we did this diet before, we would go off plan for one meal a week. I soon leaned not to do it because it would go right through me and I had to find a bathroom fast. This time around we chose not to do that. Some people can handle it and some can't.

ditto! I can't tell you the number of times I spent the entire night and next day on the throne! LOL!

__________________
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil 4:13

Mini Goal: 250 met in May
Mini Goal: 200
Mini goal #2: For my current wardrobe to be too big (26-28) May hit size 22-24!
Next Goal: size 16-18 by BDAY in March
Walk 3 days a week

TubbyGirl...I can totally relate to the carbs making you sick. I have been on a low carb plan since September and have only cheated once at Thanksgiving. I ate cream cheese and apple pie. I paid for it big time the next day with a massive headache, lethargy, and stomach ache. It was probably a good thing though because it really keeps me from cheating now. I don't want to feel that way anymore. I am too close to my goal to cheat now!!

I'm glad to know that other people experience what I am talking about. I have googled "eating carbs cause muscle aches" so many times, and nothing comes up about the aches in my back. I know it back to be the problem because it ONLY hurts on Mondays and part of tuesdays as I am burning off those carbs along with the headache and belly aches.

It sure it motivation not to cheat though! Maybe I will finally get it soon and stop cheating.

They make me sick too. Within minutes of eating something carby my heart starts to race and I feel queasy and thirsty and just generally miserable. The source of the carbs seems to make a big difference to me though -- I can eat a potato and be fine, but I had a (small) slice of cake at a party last weekend and it made me miserable. High-carb fruit doesn't bother me, but bread leaves me lightheaded and achy.

I have an aversion to gluten/wheat, soy, sugar and nightshades (potatoes, etc), so if I eat any of those after having been allergy-free, my system is hit with the hugest onslaught of histamines ever. And then... my legs are going to crawl, my head is going to ache, my stomach is going to rebel and my body will swell and react as it does when subjected to anything that causes me an allergic reaction.

It's the ever-loving pits, but it's a great reminder of how sick we were every day for years (maybe even decades) before we returned to eating as we were meant to.

__________________Jamie

I've lost 131 pounds

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